In recent years, the development and deployment of inflow control devices (hereinafter, “ICDs”) has improved horizontal well production and reserve recovery in new and existing hydrocarbon wells. ICD technology has increased reservoir drainage area, reduced water and/or gas coning occurrences, and increased overall hydrocarbon production rates. In longer, highly-deviated horizontal wells, however, a continuing difficulty is the existence of non-uniform flow profiles along the length of the horizontal section, especially as the well is depleted. This problem typically arises as a result of non-uniform drawdown applied to the reservoir along the length of the horizontal section, but also can result from variations in reservoir pressure and the overall permeability of the hydrocarbon formation. Non-uniform flow profiles can lead to premature water or gas breakthrough, screen plugging, and/or erosion in sand control wells, and can severely diminish well life and profitability. Likewise, in horizontal injection wells, the same phenomenon applied in reverse can result in uneven distribution of injection fluids that leave parts of the reservoir un-swept, resulting in a loss of recoverable hydrocarbons.
Additional problems have resulted from a push toward increasing wellbore depths to, for example, 40,000 feet and beyond. Wells of such lengths are commonly referred to as extended reach drilling (“ERD”) wells. Generally, completing such wells for efficient treatment and production has proved challenging, and can result in the farthest distal region or “toe” of the horizontal section being left open or uncompleted. Any length of wellbore that is not completed represents an area of reduced production efficiency. Furthermore, completing such wells conventionally requires multiple runs of differently-configured completion strings for formation treating (e.g., acid introduction), flowback, and production. Therefore, what is needed is a completion system and a method for running a completion system that avoids non-uniform drawdown pressures, while also extending to the distal end of the wellbore and requires less, or even a single, run(s) of production tubing.